Manitoba’s Auditor General has released reports into several allegations of wrongdoing in Manitoba RM’s including one in the WestMan area.
In a release today, Auditor General Tyson Shtykalo offered some insight into a cybersecurity incident in 2019 and 2020 in the RM of Westlake-Gladstone. According to the release, the report was initiated following a request from the Minister of Finance under Section 16 of The Auditor General Act
“The Province of Manitoba provides significant funding to municipalities to support local governance, infrastructure, and services,” Shtykalo said. “With this funding comes a responsibility—both for municipalities and the Department of Municipal and Northern Relations—to ensure effective stewardship of public resources.”
In his report, Shtykalo described the incident in question. Between December 19, 2019, and January 5, 2020, more than $472,000 in unauthorized withdrawals were made from an account held by the Municipality of Westlake-Gladstone.
Shtykalo found the municipality did not investigate the root cause of the cybersecurity incident, “missing a critical opportunity to understand how the incident occurred and how to prevent future breaches.”
“This highlights the need for all municipalities to implement controls based on a recognized cybersecurity framework, to protect them from cybersecurity threats,” he said.
The AG report also investigated alleged wrongdoing in six other RMs, three of which were partially substantiated. You can read the full report here.
